A NICE SURPRISE

Well, yesterday was supposed to be a bit of a bird-free day but hey, things dont always go to plan! I had taken the day off from Ringing because I had to take my car to the garage, amongst other things. When I got home around lunchtime I received a text from John saying that there'd been a cracking little surprise found just down the road from the Ringing hut - a superb NIGHTINGALE. This is a very scarce bird in our County and I missed the last one so I really didnt want to miss another one. I then got a phone call from Steve and he kindly told me exactly where to go for it. So off I went to the Whitburn Lodge car park. On arrival I was greeted by a number of familiar faces and within seconds I was watching the bird. It really wasnt behaving like I would normally expect a Nightingale to behave, it was regularly feeding out in the open and not trying to make it impossible to see like they usually do!!! But it was a gorgeous little bird, and a pleasure to see so close to home.
On the way home I popped into Boldon Flats and got the two Bewicks Swans and a single White Fronted Goose that had arrived on the friday.
And for the record, the car failed its m.o.t.